Wednesday, July 12, 2006

The terms, they are a changin'

In my big spreadsheet of casino bonuses, I had Casino USA listed as a 100% $100 10x sticky, which didn't allow baccarat, craps, roulette, blackjack, or pontoon to meet the WR. 10x is still pretty good if you can find a game to play (maybe war?) so I checked it out again today.

They'd changed their terms. Blackjack is now allowed, but the WR has increased to 15x ($3000). I signed up, redeemed the 100% match coupon, but just before I made my deposit, I checked the table limits.

Every single table game allowed under the rules has a max bet of $10.

I nearly left. I probably should have, seeing that the best strategy for stickies is to bet 15-25% of the account value until you reach a pre-determined target. That wouldn't be possible here.

However, I chatted with online help, and they confirmed that yes, indeed, they keep the limits low initially to weed out bonus abusers. Fair enough. I should have left at this point, but was in a playful mood after yesterday's big win, and didn't mind if I ended up down a bit. Carribbean 21 was available with its 0.19% house edge, so I made my deposit anyway.

It was a decent night. I never dropped below $170, hovered around $260 for most of the WR, but hit $300, then $400, as I crossed the $2000 WR line. When I hit $3000, I was at $402.50, so I tossed the $2.50 into a slot machine, where it quickly vanished.